Granada and the Live Volcano

Morning in Granada

We have a large tipico breakfast; scrambled eggs, pico de gallo, beans & rice, sour cream and fried plantains. It is great but a lot of food. I can still hear my Dad saying, “Clean up your plate and we will have a nice day tomorrow”, so I do but the outcome is that I am so stuffed that I can barely roll myself away from the table. Note to self: ask for a smaller portion size tomorrow.

It is already really hot when we head out to explore the city. We walk through the Parque Central and end up in the commercial district. It is packed with people. We head into the market which is huge and sells everything.

Sunday Morning Mass

To escape the crowds we head back to the park for some people watching and then to the cathedral for Sunday morning mass. There are a lot of people attending and the music is beautiful. People are more casually dressed and there is even a dog lying in the centre aisle. It is a lovely experience. Click here for a short video. 

Up to the Bell Tower

John and I pay to go up to the cathedral bell tower. When we buy the tickets we are reminded to not ring the bell when we are at the top.

The stairs are narrow and a mother pigeon has made a nest against the wall on a stair. She just sits there as everyone walks past.

Once we get up to the tower, I can see why someone would be tempted to ring the bell. Yes, very tempted.

Suffice it to say, there are very good views of the city from above.

Oldest Church and Museum

We next walk past the oldest church in Central America, originally built in 1585. It was burnt to the ground by pirates and later by an American, William Walker, who briefly became one of Nicaragua’s presidents. The church was rebuilt in 1868 and restored in 1989.

The attached convent was turned into a small museum of Granada’s history, traditions, architecture and indigenous art.

After the museum we walk and notice that the locals are in many restaurants/bars watching what appears to be an important soccer game. The favoured team gets a goal and the whole street erupts with exuberant yells.

We head back to our accommodations to eat our leftover supper (did I mention that portion sizes are large here), have a cool drink, do some laundry and hang out in the air conditioning during the mid-day heat.

Masaya Volcano National Park

Rested, we are off at 3:00pm to catch our Masaya Volcano sunset tour.
We are packed into a twelve person tour van. Almost everyone else is in their 20s and 30s.It takes about 40 minutes to get to the Masaya Volcano National Park.

There are two volcanoes in the park; the extinct Volcano Masaya and the very much alive Volcano Nindiri. Upon arrival, the sun shining through the smoke of Nindiri looks like a red ball…kind of spooky. We climb to the summit point where we can see both volcano craters and watch the sunset. The view is spectacular. Click here for a short video.

After sunset, we go to the edge of Nindiri’s live crater and watch the red glow of the lava bubbling away far below.This is definitely a highlight of the Nicaragua trip so far.

Chicken Bus

Back in Granada, we end the night at another fresh and healthy restaurant called Verde. Love this restaurant.

On the street we are passed by one of the local chicken buses. We first saw the chicken buses when we were in Guatemala. These cheap to ride local buses are called chicken buses because locals sometimes bring their livestock on with them. They usually are brightly painted and often have loud music playing. They also go very fast. There is a party vibe about them. This one that passed us had white lights lining it’s front windows.We head back to our Airbnb for a much needed rest.